Tainted Hearts
by IfEverythingWasEverything
Summary: Two girls with troubled pasts decide to runaway, with nothing but each other and their hopes of one day making it to the city to pursue their dreams.
1. Chapter 1

The first time I saw her I was with my parents at a shitty old superstore. She was standing in the middle of an aisle. 21 to be exact, she was wearing ripped overalls with the trousers rolled up past her knees and a faded pink t-shirt, her shoes were scruffy and socks mismatched, her hair sunshine blonde hair was pulled back into an untidy ponytail. An older man, probably in his early fifties stood directly in front of her, he was holding her by the wrist and pointing at her sternly with his other hand. I was too far away to hear what he was yelling at her about. I remember seeing her trying to tug her wrist back out of his death grip, she was putting on a brave face, not wanting to cry or make a scene; which even I realized would probably result in her being punished even more.

She turned her head, glancing away from him for the briefest second; her eyes met mine. They were piercing blue, but somehow still looked dull and vacant. Her pink lips were pressed together as she looked at me.

Then came the most horrific part.

"Listen to me you stupid girl" the man barked at her, the sound of an open palmed slap to the face echoed down the aisle. It took me a second to register what had just happened and by then the man had released the little girl and given her a shove backwards as he walked off muttering "little piece of shit". Watching the girl stumble backwards frantically trying to regain her balance, I heard my mother call out from behind me with her thick Latina accent.

"Santana, hurry up, your father does not like to be kept waiting"

I knew I needed to go or I would get in trouble but somehow I couldn't take my eyes off the girl after seeing what just happened. I wanted to go and ask her if she was alright, but two other kids came running up the aisle pushing and shoving each other.

They were both boys, one was skinny and pale, he had messy brown hair and dark eyes, the other was tall with broad shoulders and had shaggy ash blonde hair.

"Brittany" the skinny boy called to her as he ran past "come on you loser" the tall boy grabbed her by the arm and pulled her along behind him roughly. I saw her wince as he touched her wrist.

She looked over at me again, before she was yanked completely out of my sight.

I couldn't shake the image of the blonde girl being hit out of my head. I had only been in this town for a week and it already had me living in fear.

I used to live in Valencia in California. I lived in a big house, with lots of rooms; it had a huge garden and a pool. My school was fancy; you only got in if you were of some kind of important status, or you paid the school double to take you in. My friends were okay but I could never really talk to them about anything serious, anything that I was actually interested in, we had fun together and that was the main thing. I guess my life was like what a lot of people dreamed of. Though usually their dreams include parents, I do have parents, but it's basically like they are not there most of the time. I've been looking after myself since I was about 5. My mom likes to think she is a good parent, but she wouldn't know how to be one even if there was a handbook with step by step instructions.

My dad has never really cared about me, he has never told me he loves me or said he's proud of me, I'm just a little piece of his life that gets in his way and spends his money. He lost his job a month ago, I honestly have no idea what his job actually was, but he got in huge trouble and they took all our money and evicted us, we had 24 hours to get out. To be honest, I wasn't even that sad that we had to leave, I was never deeply attached to my life there; everything seemed so shallow and fake.

We packed up our house and took everything we could fit in the car. None of us had any idea where we were going, my mother spent most of the next 3 days crying, and my dad was just silent. He didn't speak to me, not that that was anything new.

We stayed at his brother's house out of state for a couple of days. He didn't have the nicest house but at least there was a roof over our heads. A few days later my Dad informed me that we were moving to Baltimore. It didn't sound that bad at the time, but by the time we got there, it was easy to say that I had completely changed my mind.

When I got back to the car I told my parents what had happened to the girl.

"Not everybody is as privileged as you Santana" my father said to me starting the car with absolutely no sympathy in his voice whatsoever.

I glared at him from the back seat even though I knew he wouldn't see me. If I was privileged, none of it came from them. My mom wasn't one to stand up against anything my dad said so she just mumbled in agreement with him. The rest of the ride home was silent. As soon as the car pulled up outside our block of rundown flats, I was out.

"I'm going for a walk" I told my mom who frowned immediately

"Santana, it's going to get dark soon, it's dangerous for you, you're only 11" she said and folded her arms, I knew she wasn't going to make any other attempt to stop me, so I kept walking.

"I can take care of myself" I called back to her and walked off down the road.

Everything was dry here; it was like it hadn't rained in a year. The sidewalks were cracked, the grass was mainly dirt. People hung their washing out their windows and kids roamed the street freely. It wasn't the safest area to be living in, and it certainly didn't have a good reputation, but it was all that we could afford at the time.

I walked down the street, there weren't as many kids running around, probably because it was coming towards the end of the day and mother's started herding their children back inside to the safety of their own property. Sirens sounded in the distance, and helicopters were constantly circling overhead, I was starting to get used to the different sounds and smells of living somewhere completely different.

I didn't know where I was walking, I kept glancing back so I knew what way to go home, I still found it difficult to tell which block of flats was ours, all the buildings here resembled one another.

I turned the corner and shivered as the cooler evening air blew sharply down the road, there was a small group of kids in the middle of the road, one was lying down, another was sitting and two were standing up pushing each other around.

I frowned to myself and kept to one side of the sidewalk, wondering if I could make it past them without them talking to me, they looked older and I still wasn't that amazing at defending myself.

As I got closer I recognized the two boys from the superstore, the skinny boy kicked the girl who was lying on the ground, my eyes widened as I watched, but I realized she was laughing. She sat up and whacked him behind his knee, making him collapse to the ground. The other girl who was sitting caught me looking at them and she narrowed her eyes, looking me up and down. I quickly forced myself to look away and kept walking. Then I saw her. The blonde girl, sitting underneath a tree a few houses up, she was drawing in the dirt with a stick; the wrist that had been hurt was in her lap. My heart started beating faster, what were the odds that I would run into her again. I have to talk to her I thought to myself. She didn't look up as I approached her; I nervously played with my fingers as I stopped in front of her.

"Hey" I said and she finally looked up and I swear I saw a flash of happiness pass through her eyes. She was even more beautiful up close; a sprinkle of freckles fell across her nose, her ears were slightly pointed and her eyes were like the sky. She had a smudge of dirt on the side of her nose and blood on her forehead.

"Hi" she said and looked up at me tilting her head slightly "you're the girl from the store" she said before looking back down at her dirt drawing.

I was somewhat delighted that she recognized me; I felt a smile tug at the corners of my mouth.

"You remember" I said and let the smile spread across my face; she looked back up at me and saw my smile that I was trying to bite back.

"Of course I do" she replied "You're not someone I could forget"

"What do you mean?" I asked my heart was still hammering away in my chest; I watched her put the stick down and dust her hand off on her knee, she looked back up at me and smiled, it was the most perfect thing I'd ever seen in my whole life.

"I'm Brittany" she said standing up and holding her hand out to me.

"Santana" I said and reached out slipping my hand into hers, they fitted together perfectly.

"You're really pretty" she said, her hand was still in mine. I felt my cheeks grow warm and I smiled a little looking at the ground.

"Thank you" I said quietly and bit my lip "so are you"

Brittany giggled and let go of my hand. I looked back up to find her still looking at me. I glanced at her red wrist and she slipped her hand over it.

"Is your wrist okay?" I asked her and she looked away

"It's fine"

"Can I see?" I said, I didn't know much about injuries, but at my old school in California we took a first aid course and I thought I could at least try and help her. She shrugged and held her arm out to me, I took a step closer to her and felt her eyes on my face, I gently picked up her wrist and felt around the bone, she winced almost immediately and tried to pull her arm back. I looked up at her; her eyes were wide and worried.

"You need to see a doctor" I said and furrowed my brow, letting go of her wrist.

She shook her head and took a step away from me. _Don't go_ a voice in my head screamed out to her.

"Brittany" I said in my best begging tone "if it hurts that much…"

"I'll get in trouble" she said

"For getting help?" I lifted an eyebrow, what sort of family was this girl raised in. She looked down at the ground and chewed on her bottom lip.

"Come on" I said "I'll go with you" she lifted her head almost as soon as the words had left my mouth.

"You will?" she asked almost in disbelief.

I shrugged "well, why not?"

"Nobody likes me" she said almost as if it were completely normal, I saw her glance over my shoulder and I turned around, seeing the kids in the street looking at us.

"You mean them?" I asked and looked back at her; she looked at me, her eyes meeting mine again.

"They think I'm a freak" she said and wiped her nose with the back of her hand "they call me a loser too"

I frowned and folded my arms "I don't think you're a freak or a loser"

She looked at me and sighed "but you don't even know me"

"I _want _ to come with you" I said and looked at her, a strand of her messy hair had fallen across her face between her eyes, I couldn't help myself, I reached over and gently moved the piece of hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear.

"You're new here aren't you" Brittany said after a moment of silence, I nodded and suddenly in one swift move she caught my hand and linked her pinky finger with mine then began to walk down the sidewalk. I looked down at our hands and my heart skipped a beat. I suddenly realized I never wanted to be away from this girl. I could barely remember what life was like without her, and I had only known her for 5 minutes.

"I've…I've been here for like a week" I finally managed to find words

"Where did you come from?" she asked looking at me as we walked.

"California" I said and kept my eyes on the footpath ahead of us, I knew if I looked her in the eyes one more time I might melt into a puddle. I didn't know what this feeling was; I had never felt it before in my life, it was like nothing else in the world mattered, nothing except this girl.

"Wow" she said her eyes were wide "I've never been there before, but I've seen photos, is it always sunny there?"

I laughed a little "not always"

"How old are you?" she continued to question me

"11" I said "you?"

She giggled again, the same perfect giggle as before "same"

I looked at her and smiled, before looking ahead of us and biting my lip.

"Do you know where we're going?" I asked her

"The train station" she said "it's the quickest way to get to the doctors"

"Who were those kids?" I asked her "playing in the street? I saw two of them at the store with you earlier"

"My brothers and sisters" she said and lightly tugged my pinky finger, pulling me in the right direction, I looked up and suddenly realized the train station was just across the road.

"Oh" I said "they don't look like you"

"I know, they're not really mine, that's why" she said

"You stole them?" I ask and she laughs a little

"They're adopted" she said and I look at her "I am too"

My heart suddenly sank.

"So that man…"

"My father" she said and turned to me "well…adoptive father"

"I'm sorry" I had found myself saying "did you ever know your real parents?"

She nodded "but I don't remember them, I was 3, when they left me"

I looked at her, unable to find the right words, if there were even any, what do you say to someone whose parent left them when they were only three years old. In that split second I was suddenly grateful my parents didn't put me up for adoption, they don't seem to like me very much, but at least one of them cared enough to keep me.

We skipped across the railway and Brittany let go of my hand, she sat herself down on a wooden bench and started swinging her legs. We waited for the train in silence. There was something peaceful about the quiet, I would glance across at Brittany and my heart would immediately feel warm. Maybe living here wasn't going to be so bad after all.

The train came around the corner and Brittany suddenly sat forward on the bench, I will never forget the way her eyes lit up as soon as she saw it, it was like she was mesmerized.

"I love trains" she squealed and leapt up grabbing my hand and pulling me towards one of the carriages.

"You know" she said as we sat down "if this train ride is quick enough, we can get away without paying"

I suddenly realized I didn't have any money with me, so paying wasn't much of an option anyways. I immediately felt nervous, this a dodgy enough town, I didn't even want to think about the consequences of not paying and getting caught, but it's too late, endless possibilities of what might happen are already racing through my mind, my father would kill me if the police got involved, what if I got arrested, what if they put me in jail? No, they can't, I'm underage.

"Santana" Brittany said and I snapped out of my little freak out realizing it's the first time she's said my name "don't look so worried, my brothers do it all the time"

I gave her a little nod and look out the window, broken down, graffitied on brick buildings flashed past my eyes.

"I want to move to the city" Brittany said "and become a professional dancer"

I moved my eyes to her and smile "which city?"

"New York" she said and bit her lip looking out the window "don't laugh at me, I know I can make it"

I continued to watch her, there was something so unique about her, and she didn't let anything or anyone faze her.

"I would never laugh" I said "I want to go to New York too" she turned away from the window to face me.

"Do you dance?"

"No" I replied "but I sing" I had been singing since I was 3. My mom signed me up for lessons when she realized that I sung more than I talked, I only stopped going when I was 8 because they weren't helping me anymore. I knew I had a good voice, everyone at school told me I did, even the music teacher said I barely needed assistance, however the disbelieving mother I have said that I would never make it anywhere as a singer if I didn't have years of voice training. Clearly she doesn't know anything, nor has she ever heard of natural born talent.

"You do?" Brittany's face lit up with a smile "we should go to New York together then, when we're older, and you can be a famous singer, and I can dance"

I couldn't help but smile at how quickly the blonde girl and I had become so close, it's like we were meant to find each other.

The train slowed down, before coming to a complete stop, the doors opened and Brittany quickly shuffled me out of our seat towards the doors, at that moment the ticket man stepped through the door that connects the carriages.

"Go!" Brittany whispered and I felt her warm breath on my neck as we quickly slipped out the door and merged in with a group of adults who blocked us from anyone on board the trains view. She led the way to the medical center; it wasn't that far away, just a couple of blocks. The sun was starting to disappear, I wondered if my mom was going to be worried. _Of course she won't be_ I reminded myself. She has probably forgotten I'm even gone.

The medical center is average sized; it's almost completely in one piece except for the broken window on the side, we go in and a vile smell hits my nose, I hold myself back from gagging, as we walk over to the reception desk and the lady asked Brittany for her name and whether or not she had been here before. I glanced around the waiting room, there was an old man sitting in the corner asleep and a pregnant lady reading a newspaper with a little boy playing at her feet. The lady told us to take a seat and that the doctor will be with us shortly.

We sat down, my stomach was still lurching from the smell of disinfectant and vomit, Brittany doesn't seem to notice, she just looks at me worried.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" she said and played anxiously with her fingers

"Yes" I said and looked at her wrist, which was still bright red and a little bruised "you don't wanna be in pain, do you?"

Brittany shook her head as an Asian lady came out from a room around down the hall. She glanced down at her clipboard.

"Brittany Pierce?" she asked and looked up, I gave her a little nudge when she didn't move and she looked at me as she stood up.

"Can you come in with me" she asked and gave me an adorable pout that I couldn't resist. I quietly stood up and followed them both into the room. Dr Chang asked Brittany to take a seat on the bed, and I made myself comfortable in a chair by the desk. She goes through the admin procedure asking Brittany her name and date of birth, as if to make sure she has the right Brittany Pierce that knows all the correct answers to her questions. After that she asks Brittany what she had done, Brittany immediately looked at me, and I knew she didn't want to say what had really happened so I quickly stepped in.

"She fell" I interjected "out of a tree"

Brittany nodded and then continued to tell Dr Chang about her arm and where it hurts. The doctor examined it carefully and even with her careful touch I still saw Brittany flinch.

"Oh you poor thing" Dr Chang said "that must have hurt a lot"

Brittany nodded and quickly glanced at me, I gave her a small reassuring smile.

"I'm going to have to take an X-Ray though, because you must have fallen on an awfully strange angle to hurt it there" I lifted an eyebrow at this and wondered if Dr Chang had believed anything we have even said so far.

"We have an X-Ray room just across the hall" she said and gestured for Brittany to follow her, they were gone about 10 minutes, when they came back Dr Chang said we would have to wait a bit longer for the results to come through.

"So are you two best friends" she asked trying to start a conversation. I looked at Brittany, a little unsure of what to say, I'd only met her a few hours ago.

"Mm something like that" Brittany said and flashed me a smile.

"And what were you doing in a tree?" the doctor asked and I gulped a little, she was trying to get more information, I could tell.

"Trying to rescue my cat" Brittany said convincingly "Lord Tubbington always gets stuck up trees, he's really fat, see I told him not to go up there cos he wouldn't be able to get back down, but he didn't listen"

"I see" Dr Chang said as the lady from the reception desk poked her head around the door and handed her an envelope. Dr Chang removed the X-Rays from the envelope and stuck them against the backlit screen.

"Oh, it's fractured all right" she said and pointed to the part where it was sore on Brittany. Brittany frowned a little and puts her hand over her wrist "it's a pretty nasty one too" Dr Chang continued.

"No more climbing trees for you Britt" I said to her and Dr Chang turned to us.

"Actually, it looks more like a compression fracture, like you've had something heavy pressed down on your wrist" she stopped before asking "everything alright at home?"

"I- I fell out of a tree" Brittany said starting to freak out a little, her eyes dart around the room and she moves towards the edge of the bed like she's ready to run.

"Mmnn" Dr Chang said. It's obvious she didn't believe us "I'm going to have to put your forearm in a cast, what hand do you write with?"

"My right" Brittany said then bites on her lip

"Ah, well you're in luck in, what color do you want?"

I glanced between them and Brittany smiles a little "pink"

Dr Chang started soaking a bandage in water before wrapping it around Brittany's wrist; she unfolded the pink bandage up and down her arm and hand, when she is finished she tells us we have to wait while the cast sets.

"How are you girls getting home?" she asked "it's getting late, and it can be quite dangerous at night"

"My dad is picking us up" Brittany lied and Dr Chang nods.

We wait patiently until the cast is set and we are dismissed, Dr Chang instructed Brittany to come back in a few weeks to have it taken off, adding at the end to take care of herself and if anything happens to come straight to her, we both know she was talking about family violence, but neither one of us say anything, we just rushed outside and start making our way back to the train station.


	2. Chapter 2

6 YEARS LATER

I lay on my bed staring up at the ceiling. The wind howled outside and the rain was lashing against the windows, it seemed almost strong enough to shatter the glass. My room was dim; I didn't have any lights on except the living room light downstairs. There hadn't been a storm here in months, I was somewhat comforted by the heavy rumble of thunder.

It was almost 7 and my parents weren't home yet, I knew that they wouldn't be for another couple of hours. I swear they stayed out as long as possible to avoid having anything to do with me. I'm almost 18 I thought to myself, I'll be able to move out soon and never see them again.

There was a knock at the door. I lifted my head off the pillow and wondered whether it was just the wind. A few seconds later the knock came again. Dragging myself off my bed I carefully went down the old broken steps to the front door. I took the chain off and pulled it open a couple of inches, a cold wind blew through making me shiver. I immediately recognized the figure that stood outside completely soaked.

"Brittany?" I half gasped pulling the door open the rest of the way "What are you doing here?"

She gave me a little smile and stepped inside, dripping little rain droplets all over the wooden floor.

"It's Thursday night" she said and pulled her coat off hanging it on the hook behind the door. Brittany had been coming over on Thursday nights for as long as I could remember, my parents were always out so we'd eat Lucky Charms and watch Dancing With The Stars or American Idol.

"I know" I said as she gave me hug, her clothes were damp against me "but the weather…"

"Oh please" Brittany said and pushed her wet hair out of her eyes "it's just a bit of rain"

I smirked and she led the way into the living room.

"I'm glad you came" I said falling onto the couch and pointing to where the remote was to her. Brittany flicked the TV on and collapsed down on top of me; I moved my legs and stretched them out across her lap.

"I prefer it here" she said and looked at me "you know that, it's just…quieter"

"It's lonely" I corrected her and she lifted an eyebrow at me

"Are you lonely right now Sanny?" I shook my head, I was never alone when I was with her, she smirked "exactly, it's just peaceful"

I bit my lip and studied her face; the bruise across her right cheek was almost gone, and she was leaning against the couch okay so her back must be almost better as well. She glanced at me and sighed.

"He got mad again when I got home" she said and held her wrists up to me. I sat up immediately pulling my legs off her lap and pushing her sleeves up; her wrists were both red and one was slightly bruised.

"Oh honey" I said and slipped my arms around her neck gently pulling her in close "we have to do something about this, it's not right"

"We can't" Brittany said quietly, her cold hands were almost trembling on my back.

"This has been going on for years" I said and kissed the side of her head, my heart fluttered, every time I was close to her everything inside me went warm.

"You know that if I try anything he'll kill me" she said and pulled back from my arms sitting against the couch trying to avoid my eyes. The fact that Brittany was still getting abused by the man that adopted her was sickening. The thought of her getting injured made me want to cry, there was absolutely no purpose behind the violence either, Henry had a raging temper and it was always taken out on Brittany. She was the youngest and the smallest of all their 5 children and she copped the most of it, if it wasn't her it was his wife. He never touched the boys other than the odd smack around the head, and the two girls; both of them were his biologically. Brittany had gone through a couple of broken bones and a cracked rib in the time that I had known her. I would go with her to the doctor every time and help her lie about what klutzy thing she had done this time, the doctors knew we weren't telling them something, Brittany knew that if she ever tried to tell anyone what really happened Henry would go crazy; as far as he was concerned he was a good man for feeding them and giving them a place to sleep. We started telling them it was injury from her dancing and it was more believable and they told her not to try anything too crazy. I would always laugh afterwards because Brittany is the best dancer I've seen, any move that's even slightly tricky she could pick up and have perfected in an hour.

"He hit Karen as well" Brittany said to me and I watched her with worried eyes "she'll be okay though, it wasn't anything serious"

"Brittany" I said "this whole situation is serious" she looked down at her hands and shrugged a little.

"I'm used to it" she said quietly and my heart almost broke.

"That doesn't mean it's a good thing" I placed my hand over hers and she curled her fingers around mine "you're smart and beautiful and you don't deserve this"

"You seem to be the only one that thinks that" she said and looked up at me, her eyes filled with sadness. She always tried to act strong whenever this happened, she tried to act like she didn't care about it, or that it wasn't a big deal. I could always see right through her though, every time it happened it tore her down, it scared her and she probably couldn't take much more of it.

"Then everyone else is stupid" I said and she forced a weak smile "do you want Lucky Charms?" I asked her changing the subject; I knew she hated talking about things that happened at home.

"Yes" she said looking up, the expression on her face changing immediately, she glanced at the TV screen and clapped her hands together.

"Go quickly" she said and nudged me off the couch "it's about to start"

For the next hour we sat on the couch and ate forgetting about everything else in the world. I watched Brittany and the way her face lit up when she saw people dancing. When her favorite couple came on she jumped off the couch and followed their steps, it was almost as if she was predicting what they were going to do. She moved so gracefully, every move she made was smooth and led perfectly into the next.

"C'mere" she grinned holding her hands out for me to get up and join her, I shook my head.

"Britt, no, you know I can't dance" I begged even though I knew it was useless.

"I never said you had to dance" she said and reached for my hands pulling me up. I stood in front of her expectantly and placed my hands on my hips.

"What?" I said and lifted an eyebrow watching her spin in a circle around me "there isn't even any music"

"You don't always need music to dance" she said and stopped in front of me, she picked up my hands and placed one on her shoulder and laced the other hand with hers. She placed her hand on the small of my back, I felt my heart beat quicken as she pressed her chest against mine and smiled at me.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice was almost a whisper

"Dancing" she said and slowly started swaying to the non-existent music. The rain outside had eased; it was so quiet I could hear her breathing. She looked at me and leaned in pressing her nose against mine, she smiled cheekily.

"Are you ready?" she asked and I looked at her, my dark eyes searched her face curiously. All of a sudden I was being dipped backwards, a squeal escaped my lips and my arm shot around Brittany's neck. She giggled and held me horizontal to the floor.

"Don't you trust me?" she asked seeing my wide eyes.

"I sort of have too" I said and gathered myself and realizing there was no way she would drop me. Her eyes sparkled as I looked up at her.

"This is actually quite comfy" I said and gave a little smirk.

"Oh I could stay here forever" Brittany said and didn't make any attempt to move.

At that moment the front door opened, Brittany glanced at me before gently lifting me back to my feet as my parents walked into the room arguing.

I ran a hand through my hair as my father stormed off into his study and my mom was left standing in the living room staring at the study door as it slammed in her face.

"Wow" I said sarcastically "nice to see you guys too"

"Not now, Santana" my mom said and walked out of the room waving a hand dismissively, not having even heard what I had said, or noticed the fact Brittany was here.

"I should go" Brittany said from behind me

"No" I said spinning round to face her and pouting "I don't want you to leave, it's not like they even realize you're here"

Brittany looked at me "It's not that I _want_ to leave San"

"Right" I said shaking my head "of course, Henry" how could I forget. Brittany has rules and regulations on everything that she has to follow, one of them being if she has to be home by 9.

I walked her to the door and held her still soggy coat as she slipped it on.

"I'll see you tomorrow" she said and stepped outside into the cold, wet night.

"Yeah" I said letting out a depressed sigh leaning against the doorframe.

"I'll be okay San" she said and I nodded a little, however there was nothing reassuring in her voice, I could tell she was scared of going back.

As soon as she left I went upstairs to my room and collapsed onto my bed. Sometimes I wondered what it would be like if we both had normal families. I struggled to imagine my parents being any different than they are. I tried to imagine what Brittany's parents look like, I always pictured her mom looking like she does, long blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes. I let out a sigh as I hear my parents start yelling at each other again. It was going to be a long night. I pulled my blanket up the cold air in my room making me shiver. I felt an overwhelming rush of tiredness flood through me. It wasn't long before I was out cold.

The next morning I woke up at 7AM. I didn't like going to school, it might have had something to do with the fact it looked like a prison yard; wire fences, cold, concrete buildings to keep the students in and the vandals out. Thankfully I was almost finished with my last year, and then I could leave forever and never look back. I pulled on my black skinny jeans and my grey woolen jumper, I made myself some toast then slipped out the door into the fresh morning air without my parents noticing. Puddles drowned the sidewalks, the gutters were clogged and the grey clouds hung low in the sky, threatening more rain at any moment. I trudged to school, it was walking distance so I refused to take the bus, and it was dodgy and disgusting, there was more chance dying by taking the bus then there was walking the streets by yourself.

I got to school on time and made it through what seemed like airport security, never in my life did I expect to have to go through a bag check and a step through a metal detector every day, but it was for our own safety and some of these kids were pretty rough.

I went to my locker and dumped my books when a pair of arms wrapped around my shoulders followed by a familiar voice.

"Hey" Brittany said and I turned my head to see the blonde behind me smiling. There was always a sigh of relief when I saw her every morning, to see that she was in one piece and Henry hadn't completely lost the plot on her.

"Are you coming with me this afternoon?" she asked her arms still comfortably around my shoulders.

"If you want me too" I said relaxing back against her.

"Of course I want you too" she said "Henry won't be back till late, so we'll be all good"

I pulled myself out of her arms and turned to look at her.

"You sure?" I asked and she nodded positively. Every Friday after school we go to the train station and go north to a station right beside a diner, we sit at the diner for hours and Britt watches the trains come and go.

The rest of the day dragged past, it usually does at school; I sat in class trying to pay attention, but I constantly kept finding my mind wandering. Finally the last bell of the day rang and I was quick to rush out of class. Brittany was by my locker waiting for me, I put my stuff away and she linked her pinky with mine as we left out of the back gates.

"Did you have a good day?" I asked her as we walked

She gave a little shrug and sighed "It was alright, I just find school really confusing"

I glanced at her then down at the pavement "I think it can be confusing for everyone sometimes"

I felt her look at me "Yeah, but you're smart, you pass like all your tests, I don't"

"I don't pass _all_ of them" I said and she shook her head a little.

"You pass most of them" Brittany said and went quiet "What if I don't graduate?"

I looked up at her and frowned "Britt, you're gonna graduate"

She looked back at me "You don't know that…what happens if I don't"

I sighed "You want to be a dancer B" I said to her "last time I checked when you go for an audition the main thing they judge you on your dancing, not how well you did on your geography test"

She bit her lip, still remaining slightly unconvinced.

"Honey, you're gonna be fine, we don't even need school" I tried to comfort her

"I guess you're right, I mean my teachers tell me that I might actually learn more if I don't go to class" Brittany smiled and little and I laughed. Everyone said Brittany was stupid, I knew she wasn't, she's knows a lot about what she wants to know about, everything else is just side information that clearly her brain finds unnecessary to keep.

We got to the train station and took our usual seat on the old wooden bench at the end

"Did you know there are over 3,072 different types of trains" she said and looked at me, her eyes gleamed with excitement.

I lifted my eyebrows in amazement "really?" I said and she nodded "how do you even know that?"  
Brittany smiled wide "I asked a train driver once" I watched her and smiled  
"Maybe you do learn better outside of the classroom" I said and she gave a little shrug.


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh my god" Brittany groaned as she dragged herself along the sidewalk that was lit by flickering street lights "why did you let me eat so much"

I laughed watching her wrap her arms around her stomach

"You seemed hungry" I said and she looked back at me "plus I don't think I could have stopped you"

"I'm going to explode" she whined

We'd spent all evening eating at Bobby's Diner; Brittany had managed to consume at least 3 milkshakes, two burgers, a bowl of fries and chocolate pudding.

"Oh honey" I said not being able to help the smile on my face, I patted her back lightly as I walked her back to her house.

"I can barely walk" she continued dramatically staggering along beside me "can you actually die from over-eating?"

"I don't think so" I said still watching her "do you want me to carry you?" I smirked and she immediately shook her head.

"Nooo, you'll like break your back, then have to go to physical therapy for the rest of your life" she said and I laughed.

"You're right, maybe I should go get a wheelbarrow and put you in that" she started giggling and I felt the warmth of her arm brush against mine.

"I'd probably break that too" she glanced at me, her usual adorable smile spread across her face "let's face it" she said "I'm going to die…" her voice trailed off as she caught sight of the old, rundown Chevrolet truck parked in the driveway of her house.

"Literally" she finished, her eyes were suddenly as big as plates "He's back" she said and froze.

I glanced across the road at her house and bit my lip stepping in front of her.

"Britt…" I said but I honestly had no idea how I was going to talk her out of having a complete panic attack.

"How is this…" her worried eyes glanced at me quickly before looking behind me at the truck again "Why is he…I heard him tell Karen he was going to be home late" she could barely get the sentence out.

"Shhh" I said gently putting my hands on shoulders and trying to get her to look back at me "It's gonna be fine Britt-Britt, you can just sneak in the back"

She looked at me shaking her head; I could tell she was absolutely terrified. I pulled her into a tight hug and she wrapped her arms around me shakily.

"You should go" she whispered into my ear and I shook my head.

"If you're going in through the front I'll come too"

"No" Brittany said sharply, letting go of me and picking up the ends of my hair twirling them around her fingers "no" she said more softly "I don't want you to get in trouble"

"Britt…" I said and looked at her worried; she sighed and stepped away from me.

"I'll come by tomorrow, if I'm not dead" she said without a trace of humor in her voice, I shook my head fighting the urge to cry, it was almost unbearable watching her walk away from me like that.

"And Santana" she said looking back at me, halfway across the road "please just go home"

I gave her a little nod; even though I knew I couldn't just walk off and go home like everything was okay. I watched her disappear round the back of her house, I stood half hidden behind a tree on the other side of the road helplessly, my ears stretched trying to hear something to let me know she was okay, I waited for a couple more minutes, when nothing happened I decided it was probably best if I just went home. Taking a deep breath I turned away and started walking back down the sidewalk, I looked up at the dark sky, there were no stars tonight, it was too cloudy, there was something ominous about the way the clouds parted around the moon though, it hung in the sky as though it was watching. I've always loved the moon, but tonight something just wasn't right.

Suddenly a glass shattering scream in the distance pierced my ears so sharply it was like it was right next to me. I froze everything inside me stopped. I was literally unable to move a muscle. I knew that scream. I'd only twice before in my life. But that was enough to know that something was terribly horrifically wrong. Before I could take in a breath of the cool night air I was running; sprinting even back towards her house.

I knew the front door would be locked so I crept around the back, all the lights were on and the sound of Henry's rage filled the air. My heart was beating so fast I could barely take a steady breath. I knew I was putting myself in danger by going inside, but I had too. I had no other choice. I had to take a chance for her for once in my life.

Placing my hand on the doorknob I slowly pushed the door open a crack and peeked through, they were right there, in the kitchen, Karen, his two daughters, Brittany and himself. I couldn't see what was happening; I was going to have to go in. None of them had noticed the door yet, I quickly took a step back and glanced around outside for any sort of weapon I could use for my own protection, but there was nothing but a pot plant.

Distraught whimpering was suddenly coming from the kitchen, tilting my head to the side I could tell it was Brittany; anger was building up inside of me. I burst through the door into the kitchen. Everyone was suddenly looking at me. I could hear my heart beating in my ears as I quickly looked around. Joanna and Kaelyn his daughters were standing each side of me, Karen was in the doorway to the living room, tears filled her eyes; her hand was covering her mouth. I brushed past the girls and my mouth fell open seeing Henry with Brittany pinned against the bench, his hand gripped into her blonde hair and a knife pressed to her stomach. Tears fell down her cheeks as she looked at me and I could see her shaking under the knife.

"What the fuck is she doing here?" Henry roared and Johanna who was 19, reached out for me trying to grab my arm and pull me back. I quickly moved out of her reach unable to move my eyes off Brittany.

"What is going on" I finally managed to say, my voice was shaky, my teeth were gritted but somehow the tone of my voice sounded like I wasn't to be messed with.

"well Santana" Henry said, I was briefly surprised he even knew my name, he never called me by it, in fact this was probably the first time he has actually spoken to me "this little bitch" he said jabbing the knife against her even more, making her suck her stomach in almost completely "stole my money, but of course, I'm sure you already knew that" he hissed, I cocked my head to the side and eyed him closely, I glanced at Brittany who was trying to shake her head at me, but she was being crushed even further against the counter.

"You know" I said, suddenly all the fear I'd have 5 seconds ago had gone, and I was left with complete and utter fury "I have no idea what the fuck you are talking about Henry, but I'm warning you, if you do not let her go right now, I will fucking end you"

There was a gasp from one of the girls behind me. I felt my hand curl into a tightly clenched fist by my side as Henry just chuckled.

"Oh yeah Princess?" he smirked wickedly "and how are you gonna do that?" he said and moving the knife off her stomach and putting it against her throat. I gulped, my eyes widening a little. I hadn't thought this through and he knew it too. The disgusting grin was still on his face as my mind raced through all my options in a split second.

I'd been in a several fights in my time living here, none of them had involved knives, though I'd seen some that had, and going up against someone with a knife when you don't have one yourself never ends well.

"look honey you may scare the kids at school with your whole bad girl attitude but you don't scare me, and it's not so simple in the real world now is it, so why don't you just run along" he said smugly.

"Don't you dare talk down to me" I spat at him, suddenly the fear was creeping back, he was right. This wasn't just a high school fight where the teachers were on their way to break it up.

"Brittany didn't take your money" I said trying to keep calm

"Then who did?" he asked lifting an eyebrow at me

I swallowed hard "you have 4 other kids" I said running my tongue across the front of my teeth "Maybe they did it"

"Benjamin moved out months ago, and Lucas is hardly ever here" Henry said narrowing his eyes

"What about the other two?" I said, I was already walking on thin ice, and to accuse his own daughters of doing it was probably going to break it.

He went silent. He took the knife off Brittany's throat and pointed it at me almost in disbelief.

"Are you accusing my own two daughters of stealing from me?" he asked his voice sounded like death.

"You actually have 3 daughters, and you're already accusing one of them" I knew now was definitely not the time to be getting smart with adults but the words fell out of my mouth before I could stop them.

A very dark look crossed Henry's face as he gave me the coldest most terrifying look I'd ever received in my life.

"I strongly suggest you get your sarcastic little ass out of my house right this second" he said and placed the knife back against Brittany's neck.

I stood there for a moment in the silence, everyone was waiting for me to leave, everyone including Brittany.

"I can't do that sorry" I said "I can't leave unless Brittany is leaving with me"

"Karen" Henry barked "get her out, now" I glanced at Karen who was whimpering by the door in fear.

"Don't listen to him Karen" I said and she looked at me with wide eyes.

"Don't you dare tell my wife what to do you little…" Henry was getting extremely pissed off, but I had to keep trying.

"Little what?" I asked and tilted my head

"Coward" he spat at me and I lifted an eyebrow curiously.

"Me?" I shook my head glancing at Brittany who was pleading me with her eyes to back down "I don't think so" I said looking back at Henry who was bright red in the face "you're the coward here, because you could have cut her head off already, but you haven't"  
He went silent, I had to do something, I was just going in circles and eventually he'd win. He called me a coward I thought to myself. He doesn't think I'm strong enough to make a move.

Brittany's voice popped into my head "you're not a coward Santana" she had told me 2 years ago when a group of girls started calling me scared and cowardly after I had walked away instead of fighting them.

"You're better than them, they know it too, and it scares them, which is why they called you a coward, it makes them feel better" Brittany had said to me after I'd deflated against the wall when I was out of their sight.

I looked at Brittany and the fear and terror that filled her eyes, my heart was pounding, I lurched forward, thankfully he reflexes were rather on the slow side, probably due to drinking, I smashed his arm away from Brittany's throat causing him to drop the knife, I pushed Brittany out of the way and swung my fist at his face, catching him right between his lip and his nose, my knuckles cracked and made him stagger backwards grunting in pain. Picking up the knife I hurled it out the open door and grabbed Brittany's hand pulling her outside with me.

We didn't stop running till we got to my house, I fumbled for the key fear was overtaking me again, fear that he would chase us, hunt us down and kill us both. As soon as we were both inside I locked the door and chained it.

"Santana?" my father's voice came from the living room. What were they still doing awake I thought, trying to regain my breath I looked at Brittany, who was sitting on the steps looking at the carpet, the expression on her face was unreadable. I'd never seen her so scared in my life.

"One second" I panted stroking the top of her head and going into the living room.

"What?" I asked seeing both my parents in there. My mom on the couch, my father standing in front of the TV with his arms crossed.

"Where have you been?" he asked sternly

"Like you care" I said and frowned, adrenaline and fear still pumped through my veins.

"Of course we care, Santana" my mother said and I wiped a bead of sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand.

"I was at Brittany's if you must know" I said looked between them "she was about to be knifed and I thought maybe I should stick around and do something" sarcasm dripped off my voice.

"Santana" my father said and I looked at him "you know how your mother feels about you going over there, how could you be so selfish"

My eyes widened in horror "did you not hear me" I said my voice was raised "my best friend almost got stabbed"

"We heard you Santana, please keep your voice down" my mother said

"It is not our problem, Santana, that your friend got into that situation" my father's voice had no emotion whatsoever as he spoke "what matters is that you are being very disrespectful to this family"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"So, you'd rather that I just let her die, then actually do what any other normal moral person in this world would do and try to help her?" I asked my voice almost broke as I held back tears; I crossed my arms across my chest. I was too tired to fight.

"You disgust me" I said shaking my head "Both of you, go to hell"

I turned on my heel and walked back into the hallway, Brittany was looking at me her blue eyes watery. I held my hand out for her and she took it, leading her up to my room I shut the door behind us and leaned against it exhausted. I could hear my parents yelling downstairs; at least they just let me walk away without screaming after me.

Brittany and I were both silent. She sat on my bed, her hands in her lap. I leaned against my door watching her closely.

After a few minutes my parents gave up fighting, I heard them come up the stairs and go into their room.

"Brittany" I said going over to my bed and sitting down beside her, she looked at me and I sighed a little.

"We have to leave"

"What?" she croaked her blue eyes stared at me confused.

"We can't stay here" I said "it's not safe, and no one even cares about us"

She shook her head and looked away.

"Britt" I said and placed my hand over hers "think about it, you can't go back there"

She sniffled and I saw a tear fall onto her lap.

"Come on B" I said softly "why are you so upset?"

"I- I told you to go home" she said quietly and looked down

I furrowed my brow "I heard you scream, what was I supposed to do? Pretend I hadn't heard it?"

She looked at me as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

"I thought he was gonna kill me" she whimpered "and then you came…"

I nodded and didn't move my eyes off her.

"I was so scared" her voice was barely a whisper; I wrapped my arms around her tightly and held her fragile body close.

"I'll always fight for you Brittany Pierce" I said and kissed the side of her head "always"

"I'm never letting you go" Brittany whispered and kept her arms around me, her cold hands against my warm skin sent chills up my spine.

"Where are we gonna go?" Brittany said after a moment of silence

"What do you mean?" I asked her

"You said we had to leave, where are we going?" she said pulling back and wiping her tears.

I looked into her eyes and I could tell she was being completely serious.

"I don't- I have no idea" I said and bit my lip "but anywhere is better than here right?"

Brittany nodded "as long as we're together" she looked around my room then back at me, our eyes met "we should leave now"


End file.
